Houston pay?

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Good afternoon,

I'm a soon to be nursing student and was wondering what is to be expected for pay as a new grad and after you have a few years under your belt. At what point do you really see a difference or increase in pay? Is it realistic as a nurse to make over $100k/ur here in Houston or anywhere else in TX without working 6/7 days a week? Are there travel assignments in TX? And how hard is it to get a license in other states to do travel assignments? Have any of you done travel nursing to places outside of the US like Guam, Hawaii, Saudi, etc... If so what was the pay and benefits like? This is something I am interested in doing especially since my wife is from Saipan (a neighboring island to Guam). Do most of you have a primary job that offers benefits and a second PRN job? These are only a few questions I have but I would greatly appreciate any informative replies. Thanks!

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At this time, new grad pay in the Houston area is $25-28/hr. After a few years, hard to say. If you job hop, you could be in the mid $30/hr range.

As for $100,000/year as an RN, not likely as a bedside nurse unless you do a lot of OT. To make $100,000 a year without OT, you need to be making around $53/hr (this is based on a 36 hour work week). I do know a few nurses working at urgent care centers at night making $45/hr, but this is part time.

Upper management (BSN minimum, MSN becoming the standard requirement) can be in the $100,000+ range though.

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Prn jobs in Houston can pay about $45-$50 an hour. If you didn't need benefits, theoretically you could come close to 6 figures if you had a couple of prn jobs.

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Prn jobs in Houston can pay about $45-$50 an hour. If you didn't need benefits, theoretically you could come close to 6 figures if you had a couple of prn jobs.

True, but most PRN jobs require a minimum of 3-5 years in area of practice. More than that to get the $45/hr rate.

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How about the travel aspect? Any outside the US?

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How about the travel aspect? Any outside the US?

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Ask in the travel nurses forum.

https://allnurses.com/travel-nursing/

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

One of the most discouraging aspects of Nursing is the severe salary compression which has been in effect - forever. New grads may be fortunate enough to begin with a higher starting wage than their colleagues in some other fields, but salaries for nurses tend to maxx out at about 5 years. Annual "merit increases" are miniscule ( ~ 2%) and don't keep up with cost of living increases. It is not uncommon for incumbent staff to discover that they are being paid less than newly hired nurses.

If you want to achieve higher wages, you'll need to take steps to advance your career in terms of levels of responsibility. This will require advanced education & experience. Nurse leaders can make $100k & Nurse Execs can top that.... but those jobs are uber stressful with higher levels of burnout than staff nurses. OP may also want to explore career options in specialty areas such as informatics or quality & patient safety - where salaries are not as tightly controlled as those associated with traditional nursing practice areas.

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I wanted to start off by saying thank you for those that provide feedback. I know pay is different depending on the area and my goal with nursing was to get enough experience under my belt to do travel nursing in California from time to time to make up for this low wage gap in TX. My mother is a working travel nurse there and makes a killing only working 3 days a week. However, since making this post I have rethought my decisions on becoming a nurse mainly due to having a VA service connected disability for my back. I will continue my path to earning a degree in chemical engineering. Thanks again for all your reposes.

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